dvr

TiVo has released its latest audience research, revealing that viewership of recorded TV programs and internet-delivered content has surpassed live TV viewership. With all the new options of on-demand video content and services that let you watch what you want when you want, it's not too surprising.

With all the booths at this year's crazy CES there is no shortage of content providers looking for additional coverage and attention. With Netflix and Hulu Plus already having huge traction Simple.TV needs something that will stand out. What they've just announced at CES is just that. A next-gen DVR that will bring the connected TV world wireless.

DISH Network has revealed its new whole-house high definition DVR system, the bizarrely named Hopper and Joey, consisting of a main DVR base station and multiple smaller STBs. Hopper can record up to six HD channels simultaneously to its 2TB of internal storage, funneling that to individual Joey boxes that are connected via your home's existing co-axial cabling. Meanwhile an ecosystem of Sling adapters, online management through the browser and the DISH Remote Access apps allow for access outside of the home.

The long delayed DirecTV TiVo DVR may finally be arriving as soon as this week. Following DirecTV and TiVo's reconciliation in 2008, talks began of TiVo returning to DirecTV's set-top box in 2009, but that has yet to materialize until now. According to a forum post by a member that appears to be an employee or otherwise associated with DirecTV, the new TiVo-toting DVR is set to arrive on December 8. It will initially be released only in select markets.

This week the fine folks at TiVo have today announced availability of their new TiVo Premiere Elite set-top box. This box will be the company's first and only retail DVR with a full four tuners allowing users to record four channels at once, all while viewing a fifth recorded program. Never ever miss any TV show again, ever! You'll also have a gigantic 2-terabyte hard drive, this allowing you to record "up to 200 hours" of HD programming, two times the recording space that any other current comparable solution offers.

If you have been waiting for the next version of the popular TiVo DVR to debut, it is here. The new DVR is called the Premiere Elite and it has some impressive specs. The DVR has 2TB of storage space inside and quad tuners. That is enough room for 300 hours of HD programming. That much storage space with four tuners opens lots of doors for TV fans.

AT&T has been offering a handy U-Verse Mobile app that lets customers watch TV shows and schedule recordings directly from their smartphones. The app is already available to several devices, but today the company has expanded the selection to include the Samsung Infuse 4G, the LG Thrive, LG Phoenix, and the HTC HD7S.

TiVo is one of the most popular DVR options for consumers, and it's about to make its viewing experience even more convenient. The TiVo Premiere DVR set-top box connects directly to your cable service, replacing your cable box. And not only can it record TV shows to its HDD for viewing later, it also adds on-demand video and other web entertainment to your TV. But one feature it lacked was a more streamlined way of transferring recorded content to other TiVos in your house.

As someone who have been covering the technology industry for years, I sometimes get caught up in the idea that everyone sees the same value in tech as I do. I believe that when a new product launches, the average person loves it as much as I do. And when a device I love has been updated, I fully expect to see the same level of excitement from my friends that I feel after hearing the news.

Did you know that on average during an hour long television show you are subjected to 22-24 minutes of ads? Now of course many of us have DVRs and we rarely watch TV live, allowing us to skip the ads. Still TV used to be free and the ads supported the network costs. In 10 years we will look back and reflect on how archaic TV was.

If you are, a TiVo owner who has been waiting for Hulu Plus to come to your DVR, the wait is over. Hulu Plus on TiVo Premiere has landed with a subscription. The service launched as of today and to celebrate the service coming to TiVo, Hulu Plus is giving all new TiVo Premiere buyers six months of the service for free. The specific caveat on the free service is "on newly purchased TiVo Premiere DVRs." TiVo does say that a free trial is available to current TiVo Premiere customers as well.

Early last year and late in 2009, tech fiends were debating the best product to come out in the first decade of the new millenium. My answer was decisive: TiVo. Not just the DVR in general, I mean, specifically, TiVo. I love TiVo. Tech friends, always quick to correct technical errors, would point out that TiVo actually appeared in 1999, but they did not have to tell me that. I owned one in 1999. I might have been TiVo’s best customer of all time. But this month I shut off my TiVo service and switched to something different.